The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1887-11-22
raASIPs OF THE pCEAN. u
4 yhA----,ll - y 4 .js! n
Natures Provisions for i8hting tile
DEPTHS OF tile Son. 81 < ~

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J. IEalan ihs fo9tepts of Q, dredge are 1 sls'
the curious shapes and colors of animals
alone attract attention, but if they are
,,oXal9ined at night. they develop q new
Efeatfre, cleaning Will "a iwonHrols
light that is little understood. The star
fishes brought up at certain places are
s;nll seemingly heatt to q white heat,
4 the gleams running up and down the
arms, making the animal q marvel Of
tbeauty.E Especially among the stars
/; known as ophinrans is the light most
brilliant and interesting. Even the.
very young ones sparkle like gems. a
idredge has been taken from a great
depth fairly foYerfloYing with these, e,daz-
!zling creatures, telling a wonderful
story of the condition of things below
t;the surface. These are tho light Of the
find auemones and corais emitting q
wonderful light.
J; Perhaps the most striking light given
,is q group offpolyps,. growing upon q
istem three OF four feet in length, resem-
bling tall candlestick. The name OF
this creatureIis thetumbellularia. and it
was first found in deep water off tho
,coast Of Greenland, the traWl bringing
(; up such large numbers that it was evil
ldent the ship had passed over "a Yerita-a
ible forest Of them. Imagine cornfleld
a mile or 80 below the surface, the stalks
four feet long, and the ears emitting q
golden greenish light Of wonderful soft
ness; think Of this rs spread over acres Of
Surface to an indefinite extent, the light
waving here and there in gentle undula-
tions; imagine fishes darting through
them with cleaning headlights, Others
ontlined in fire, while far above arc
great globes Of light, with soft aureolas,
and some idea Of this world beneath the
sea can be formed. The seapens, to
nearly all wonderfully luminous
Some resemble short pens; Others as
Syirgularia, are long and slender; while
lothersagain look like plumes.8 One Of
the latter, known to science as yeretil-
lum, has been used rs q lamp, several
Being confined in u glass affording light
enough to read by at distance Of
twelve inches. The sca-pens afford in
teresting objects to experiment with.
They are fringed with polyps, and when
one Of tho arms is pmched the light APP
pears, gradually spreading to the other
parts in regular succession; n very few
seconds sutlicing for the Illumination Of
the entire animal. On the Patagonian
coast, some years ago, there was an eX-
tremely low tide, exposing shoal coy
cred with II variety Of sea-pens, and at
night, when they all cleaned with phos-
phorescence, the lights of an immense
army that was slowly swallowed up as
the tide came in.
The jelly fishes, OF medusG, are
among the most remarkable OF all light
givers, and, with few exceptions, they
arc luminous, some being more SO than
others, and much Of the phosphores.
cence of the Pacific, as seen from the
decks Of vessels, is due to these creat-
ures-that are so beautifully formed
and so delicate III color, yet in reality
arc ninety-iiye per cent. water; in all
jelly fishes five per cent. will represent
the solid part. In some, as pelagia,
the entire animal is luminous, its shape
being outlined in foil, as it were; while
in others only certain portions are light
emitting. Not only are these creatures
phosphorescent, but the colors are
different; some emit a golden light; in
others it is green or azure, and some
seem to combine several tints Again,
certain ones are luminous all the time;
others show their light in q titful way
or when disturbed, and during the All,
tumn Of the year, when these radiant
creatures are hurled against the rocks
and ground up, their lights seem to
combine in turning the entire ocean
into u SETTLING caldron. &tn a.fr.